GI Problems and Autism Children Link

May 5th, 2010

Gastrointestinal (GI) Problems and Autistic Children Link

As you my be aware the alarming statistics in there are that about 1 in 110 children who has autism in the USA. Estimated prevalence rate of autism is around 1 in 100 as a best estimate of the prevalence in children in the UK.
No prevalence studies have ever been carried out on adults.

Not only is there concern about this ever alarming statistic, which seems to be increasing over time. Only a couple of years ago it was 1 in 166 children has autism.
Parents of teenagers, who have autism spectrum disorder, many times have reported that their teenage children suffer gastrointestinal (GI) problems such as constipation and diarrohea.
New research confirms that almost half of the children with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have such symptoms of gastrointestinal related problems. I myself, who is writing this post, have a son who is on the autistic spectrum disorder who has suffered from gastrointestinal problems (noticed) since he was 2 years old. Problems such as severe constipation, a lot of wind, not so much diarrohea, but gastrointestinal problems for definite.
My son has been on Lactulose for 3-4 years and now I am trying Movical (paediatric suspension) to aid with relieving his severe constipation. However, these gastrointestinal problems really need to be be addressed more by the child’s physician and/or paediatrician.

Back to the study. The study was conducted by the Autism Speaks’ Autism Treatment Network. The actual study involved autistic 1,185 children, and the study found those gastrointestinal symptoms worsen as a child grows older.
Study Findings:
At the time of enrollment, 45 percent of the children had GI symptoms.
Older children reported symptoms more often than younger children (perhaps because they could explain them better)
39 percent of those under 5 years of age versus 51 percent of kids 7 years and older.
GI symptoms were also linked to sleep problems.
70 percent of kids with GI symptoms also suffered sleep problems compared to 30 percent who didn’t have GI symptoms.
My son suffers from sleep problems again since he was a toddler, even a baby. He is on medication to aid him with his sleep.
“These findings suggest that better evaluation of GI symptoms and subsequent treatment may have benefits for these patients,” Daniel Coury, M.D., medical director of the ATN and professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at The Ohio State University, was quoted as saying. “Primary care physicians and specialists should ask families about these symptoms and address these as part of the overall management plan for the child or adolescent with ASD.” I totally agree with this statement.
Source: Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting, May 1-4, 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia